MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,613 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,315 shares during the period. Waste Management makes up approximately 1.5% of MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $11,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total transaction of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,902,246.40. This trade represents a 12.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total transaction of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at $19,158,100.47. This represents a 18.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 79,522 shares of company stock valued at $18,084,124 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. HSBC upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Raymond James increased their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $243.29.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.8%

WM traded up $1.74 on Friday, reaching $229.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,639,125 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,659,112. The company has a market capitalization of $92.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $239.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $228.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $221.59.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.75 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.77%.

Waste Management Profile

Waste Management, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility (MRF), or disposal site; and owns and operates transfer stations, as well as owns, develops, and operates landfill facilities that produce landfill gas used as renewable natural gas for generating electricity.